Danish organisation is pushing to make UN conventions a part of the Danish legislation in order to protect asylum children from being deported

A grand voice against the deportation of children

Danish organisation is pushing to make UN conventions a part of the Danish legislation in order to protect asylum children from being deported

A poster from the organisation’s petition. It says “Deported after 5 years in Denmark” with the word “AFVIST” (rejected) with big letters across the children (Photo: Makmoud)

By: Makmoud

The Danish organisation Grandparents for Asylum wants to prevent the deportation of asylum children in Denmark. Therefore they are focusing on an active campaign to secure that the convention on the Rights on a Child will become Danish law.

“If the convention is made Danish law, children or their lawyer can complain directly to the UN-Committee and the State of Denmark is obliged to follow the UN decision,” says Jørgen Kirkegaard who is a retired history teacher and member of the organisation.

UN-Convention on the Rights of the ChildIn mid August 2014 the committee under the Minstry of Justice published recommendations that Denmark should make six UN-Conventions a part of the Danish legislation. Amongst them the convention on children’s rights where they emphasize that the child’s best interest should come first. Grandparents for Asylum find that the childrens rights are rarely met within the asylum system. For example it states in the convention that in authority’s processing of cases involving a child, the child must be heard. Asylum children don’t have a voice in their own cases. Grandparents for Asylum believe that the legal status is important because the courts of Denmark are obliged to obey the exact content of the conventions, which will help prevent the deportation of asylum children.

It is not the first time that the Danish government have heard talked about the conventions:

“The present government said in a declaration back in 2011, that they would examine the possibilities for making seven UN-Conventions to Danish Law. We are hoping that this time something will happen,” Jørgen Kirkegaard says.

[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]

In all actions concerning children, (…) the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

The organisation Grandparents for Asylum was founded in October 2007 with the main aim to improve conditions for asylum seekers in asylum centers in Denmark and change the laws of asylum to the benefit of asylum seekers. Most of the members are grandparents and also pensionist. Since the establishment of this group, they have demonstrated weekly on Sundays at the gates of Sandholm, Avenstrup and Kongelunden. Since the present government took office the demonstrations have stopped in Avenstrup, but in Sandholm and Kongelunden centers there are demonstrations once every two weeks on Sundays. [/message_box]